To ask the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine the steps his Department takes to monitor breaches in the codes of practice regarding the selling and supply of goods through published advertisements, online or printed, regarding the sale of dogs and or puppies that have been bred illegally or are being sold to take part in illegal hunting activities.

REPLY

The Irish Pet Advertising Advisory Group (IPAAG) Minimum Standards, for online classified advertising websites, was launched in 2015. IPAAG is an advisory group of Irish animal welfare organisations, representatives from the veterinary profession and online websites. I fully endorse these Minimum Standards and would strongly encourage websites that advertise animals for sale to comply with them.

The Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010, under the responsibility of the Minister for Rural and Community Development, sets out a framework for the regulation of dog-breeding establishments, requiring local authorities to establish and maintain registers of such establishments in their areas and prohibiting the operation of unregistered ones.

My Department is fully committed to promoting good practices that respect the welfare of all animals. I would encourage anyone who has evidence of a breach of animal welfare to report it to the Animal Welfare Hotline operated by my Department. The phone numbers of the hotline are as follows:

Call Save: 0761 064408

Phone: 01 6072379

Breaches of animal welfare can also be emailed to animalwelfare@agriculture.gov.ie.